First off, please don't expect all too regular updates and also go easy on me as this is my first ever blog!
I am currently taking a break from EVE. Taking a break has turned into a lot of sitting in station whenever I get bored around the flat irl and chatting with the corp and directors. I've also been following events on the forums and sticking my oar in on directors forums where it comes to discussions on policy.
I hope that the membership see all these blogs as good step forwards. I know that I, personally, am stung when I read comments about aloof directors and snotty older players. I try my best to answer questions I feel that I can in corp chat and to pass information on. However I sometimes don't think people realise how much goes into running EVE Uni and how much time the directors, recruiters, instructors actually put into helping everyone out.
From personal experience, when I give a class, I spend an hour beforehand thinking about what I am going to cover and planning it, then I usually spend an hour or so on the class, plus a couple of hours afterwards editting the mp3 if I am uploading one. That's time well spent, in my opinion, and time that I hope benefits people. I enjoy it, so that's why I do it. Every positive comment I have had back as a result is appreciated and I know all the other instructors feel the same.
In terms of the directorship though, I can easily log on and spend three hours "discussing" with the other directors over an issue - on teamspeak, in chat channel or via forum posts - and at the end of it all, there is nothing to show for it. Someone like Kassie, who is chief director, spends an inordinate amount of time running and organising things. The membership often never hears of the time spent in making decisions as to whether we should or shouldn't take a specific action as a corp - they sometimes see the action itself if it goes ahead but for every decision ratified, there are two or three that pass by the wayside. Can we pass this on to the membership...well, not always no.
I'll give you an example. Let's consider the BoB conflict in it's infancy. It's a conflict that we haven't got involved in and we wouldn't get involved in - we are neutral and proud of that stance in the EVE universe and benefit from that standpoint as a teaching institution - but do you think we didn't discuss the issue in great detail? Obviously we did and that took a lot of time and heated debate. However we can never pass the details of that debate to the studentship as our decisions result in external policy and that's what we want the outside EVE community to see - that's what they must see.
I'll quote myself from an internal directors thread:
"With over 1,000 characters in corp, you are talking of making decisions that affect hundreds of people's gameplay…a sobering thought that I think every director ought to have at least once a week if they really want to do their roles proud!"
I think we do manage to do this, on the whole.
I guess what I am trying to say to those members of EVE University who read this is - please try and understand that we are really attempting to do our best and we are spending a lot of time to get things working and to nudge the uni in the right direction. As Silentbrick has said in his blog, the directors won't be posting inside secrets for you all to see in our blogs. What I hope we will be posting is our thoughts on the game and sharing our hopes for EVE University and for our own EVE experience.
I feel proud to be a director at EVE University. I feel it is an honour and privilege and - even though I am trying my best to take a break - it's a duty I wouldn't take lightly.
Fin
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